Recurring Belt Squeal Problem

[tjmappe]

Hey everybody,

I have a '99 Camry LE and a little more than a year ago I started having a problem with the timing belt squealing. It would squeal when I started the car after it had been sitting in a parking lot or driveway for a significant amount of time. I noticed that if my car sat in the hot sun for a long time then the squealing would be worse. And it would squeal when I pushed the gas pedal to accelerate for the first time. After that the squealing would stop and I wouldn't have any problems until the next time I drove the car.

So, I replaced the belt. I made sure it was properly tightened etc. The problem seemed to go away.

But now, more than a year later, the summer heat once again has brought back the belt squealing. I checked the belt. It looks good, no wear or tear. It's still nice and tight, not loose at all. For good measure I even tightened it a little more. But, the squealing is still a problem.

This belt is in good shape and I practically just bought it. Any suggestions?

[JohnGD]

This is a problem when there isn't an automatic tensioner.

Use a Gates Krik-it II belt tension gauge to check the belt tension. Either a pulley is seizing or the belt just isn't tight enough. About $20 on Amazon. If the alt/ac belt is new then I'd check the PS belt. It's a lot more difficult to get to and doesn't have an automatic tensioner.

http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?br...cation_id=2742

[Yuko]

I haven't heard many cases of timing belt squealing, is it not coming from the drive belts?

[RichieRichJP]

My guess is that it's not the timing belt.
I bet you its one of the drive/serpentine belts.
You may want to check the alternator pulley to make sure its torqued down properly. Actually, check all of them.

[ajkalian]

Originally Posted by Yuko

I haven't heard many cases of timing belt squealing, is it not coming from the drive belts?

+1 to that.

I'm guessing that the timing belt was never the problem in the first place. The OP didn't say if it was a 4-cyl or 6-cyl, but no matter. Probably one of the belts, either PS or AC was the cause of the squeak. But by changing the timing belt, both those belts would have to be removed, and re-tensioned when put back. So the squeak would appear to have been fixed, when in reality it wasn't.

But the mechanic was paid a lot more money to change the timing belt compared to just changing the PS or AC belts. It the AC and PS belts were replaced with the timing belt, then they were cheap and have failed less than a year later.

So now, the tension has relaxed a bit, and the belt that did the squeaking is doing it again. I'd suggest that you replace both the PS and AC with a good quality Gates belts, (Not Autozone Duralast) and I'll bet the squeak goes away and stays away.


.

[hill8570]

If the belts are new-ish and reasonable tight, the next most likely cause is crud on the belts or pullys. Take some soap and water and give the belts (especially the alternator / A/C belt) and pullys a good scrub (bump the starter a few times along the way to try to get to all parts of the pullys), and then hose off well.

BTW, is your coolant level in the overflow tank dropping over time? It only takes a small amount of coolant leakage from the water pump or water pump inlet to contaminate the alt / A/C belt enough to squeal.

[ghettosled]

the reason why we are sure it isnt the timing belt is because it's a notched belt - it cant just slightly slip and cause a squeak. check the other belts or it could possibly be a bearing from a tensioner but that latter idea is doubltful as per the sound emitted.